"He has chosen us
in Him before the foundation (beginning) of the world, that we should be holy
and without blame before Him....In whom we have redemption through His blood,
the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace". (Eph. 1:4, 7)
Hey Gang: I have
some really fantastic news for you this morning. News, that when you take
the time to really concentrate on what Paul is writing, can blow your
mind. Now, just for a few moments, lay aside the cares and needs of
the day and think about what he is saying, "He has chosen us in Him
before the foundation of the world". One more time - "He has chosen us". He, who? The Mighty One. Creator God
of the universe and all that is within it.
Did you know that our earth is but the size of a pinhead, when compared on scale to the largest star we
know –Magnus…… How does God even see me
on this pin head?
.
Not sure who that is? Check
out Psalm 50. He is the One who "Summons the
earth from the rising of the sun to its setting. Out of Zion the
perfection of beauty God has shown forth" (vs.1-2). Now skip down to verse 10 and note the
Psalmist description of who "He" is. "For every beast of the forest is Mine,
The cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird of the mountains, And
everything that moves in the field is Mine. If I were hungry I would not
tell you, For the world is Mine, and all it contains"(vs. 10-12).
Are you impressed
yet? Now notice the third word of the morning Scripture "chosen". As I asked that
question to myself, several things popped into my mind. When in high
school - would I be chosen to play drums in the school dance band? When in the Air Force, would I be chosen for
Air Traffic Control School?
But the one that
really stuck out in my mind was when I was in junior high there was a
basketball hoop at the corner of one of the streets in my neighborhood where
the kids assembled after school to play hoops. Two captains were chosen
and they took turns picking their team from those present. I always
prayed two prayers during this process: first, that there was no more than
eight potential players there for teams of four, due to space, was the max the
area would accommodate; second, that I was worthy in their eyes to be
chosen. As I grew in size and experience, the prayers became
unnecessary.
But let me share a
fear that I had after giving my life to Christ as a teen-ager. This “chosen” thing began to really bother
me. Keep in mind as a hillbilly kid, with the name Kermit, buck teeth and
a very deep inferiority complex, I had a hard time getting it through my head
that God would even choose me. And, to make things worse, reading the Bible was
like working your way through a jungle of words. As a very poor reader,
all of my effort went into mouthing the words, with no energy or understanding
to know what they were saying to me.
And, to compound the
feeling I was sure that in no way would the God who declares "The world
is mine, and all it contains" choose a bucked teeth, skinny, hillbilly kid for His
kingdom. In my teens and early adult years I tended to hide from
God. Paul described me in Timothy as "having a form of Godliness
but lacking the power of God".
Let me make a
confession, this morning’s message has been banging around in my head for many
months but I am not all that willing to confess my short comings and things I cause
me to struggle.. But I had a young couple as guests at our table last
night. Jay made this statement, "please do not stop writing the blogs,
they have helped grow in the Lord.” Maybe there are none of you out there
who struggle as I did, but perhaps there is one. Oh by the way, I am now
an over-comer! Jesus said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be
saved". I met this
neat lady, over 60 years ago, and found someone who became my witness and
mentor.
Blessings,
Gramps
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